On April 5th-7th 2013, the first annual Rocket City Jazz Festival was held in Huntsville, Alabama. It featured Tom "Bones" Malone, several local jazz musicians and groups that came together to celebrate jazz music and support jazz education. This event was made possible with the help of Conn-Selmer sales representative Derek Bowen.

Opening night began with a master class by Tom "Bones" Malone covering the art and techniques of improvisation on any instrument and how everyone can improvise. The master class concluded by bringing to the stage local high school students to put their confidence and tonality to the test. The night's concert featured local jazz musician Mike Agee on tenor saxophone and Tom "Bones" Malone on trombone. The night was packed full of excitement with tunes from several different composers. The Alabama Blue Brothers (Jamey and Justin Crisler) and Malone blew the audience away by improvising on trombone, baritone sax, tuba, trumpet and piccolo. Saturday, Malone taught a master class to a group of students at Meridianville Middle School, followed by an open master class with the Rocket City Jazz Orchestra.

April 7th was the big finale, featuring several active bands of Huntsville and soloists throughout the day, ending with The Super Awesome Big Band showcasing highlights from the opening night concert with Tom "Bones" Malone.

Vincent Bach instruments are handcrafted in the U.S.A. by Conn-Selmer, Inc., the largest manufacturer of band, orchestral instruments and accessories in the United States. Conn-Selmer is a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. For complete information, visit www.bachbrass.com.

Conn-Selmer is the leading manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments for student, amateur and professional use under the brand portfolio of Vincent Bach, CG Conn, King, Holton, Selmer, Armstrong, Leblanc, Ludwig, Musser, Prelude, Galway, Glaesel, Soloist, William & Lewis, Scherl & Roth. With a focus on quality craftsmanship, innovation and superior musical performance, Conn-Selmer operates U.S.A. production facilities.

Conn-Selmer is the North American distributor of Selmer Paris woodwinds, the U.S.A. distributor Yanagisawa saxophones and the global distributor for Jiggs pBone.

Through its educational program, Conn-Selmer is the industry leader in providing support and advocacy tools tailored to music education.

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